What If Tom...

Crack, crack, crack...

Inside the cabin, Zephyr's entire body heated up, his skin taking on an unnatural red hue as strange sounds came from every bone in his body.

This transformation came quickly and went just as quickly. In less than five minutes, the changes in Zephyr's body were complete.

"Phew!"

Letting out a breath of stale air, Zephyr stood up, his face filled with excitement.

Following the instructions of the Chat Group's "seniors," he had claimed the basic gift pack. Sure enough, his very essence had been enhanced.

His physical strength had reached its peak. Zephyr felt that he was no weaker than Charlotte Linlin's Iron Balloon body among the Four Emperors, perhaps even faintly surpassing it.

That was because Zephyr's body had now returned to the healthy prime of his life. His asthma had vanished, he was young again, and his lifespan had even started at a thousand years. (P.S. Zephyr had not yet lost his arm during this period.)

All three forms of Haki had been awakened. Zephyr's Armament and Observation Haki had already been perfected, and this foundational enhancement was like adding wings to a tiger. With Conqueror's Haki—the power he had all but believed he would never master again—Zephyr felt that he could now beat up at least two Garps.

After all, Garp had begun to age, just like the others of his generation.

The final gift was all recorded combat knowledge from this world, from ancient times to the present, including swords, sabers, axes, clubs, firearms, cannons, bows, and arrows.

His body and Haki had been fundamentally enhanced, and he had also gained an immense amount of martial knowledge enough to establish a school of his own.

On this day, Zephyr once again stood at the pinnacle of the sea.

While Zephyr absorbed the gifts from the package, Flender and the other two were chatting in the Chat Group.

[Flender: @Dumbledore, Headmaster Dumbledore, how did things go? Can you ensure that Hogwarts students will be able to study happily and without worries from now on?]

[Dumbledore: A good start. In the Room of Requirement, I have obtained Ravenclaw's Diadem. I have also found the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. Tonight, I intend to face the Basilisk.]

Dumbledore responded rationally. Finding the diadem in the Room of Requirement had been easy; he only needed to focus on what he desired.

Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets had originally posed some difficulty. Although Dumbledore understood Parseltongue, he could not speak it, nor could he control snakes. Fortunately, Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets had a "voice-activated door." After watching the film once, Dumbledore remembered the tone needed to open it, and imitating it was simple.

After receiving the Chat Group's enhancement, Dumbledore had even mastered Parseltongue. He could both understand and speak it.

As for the Basilisk, it had never actively harmed anyone in a thousand years. It had only begun attacking people after being beguiled by Tom.

Under the best circumstances, Dumbledore did not intend to kill it. It was school property, as well as a gift left behind by Slytherin.

Besides, every part of a Basilisk was valuable. Its shed skin was excellent potion material, while its venom was a weapon capable of completely destroying Horcruxes.

However, that was not the only method. Fiendfyre could also destroy Horcruxes. As for whether Dumbledore could use Fiendfyre... well, that was a pointless question.

But there was one final matter concerning the Basilisk that Dumbledore could not decide.

Myrtle Warren, an innocent victim who had died. Dumbledore was filled with the same regret for her that he felt for his own sister.

If he had paid a little more attention to that child, cared a little more about that child, then perhaps everything would have been different.

[Flender: A Basilisk? A magical and dangerous creature, but it is indeed a safety hazard.]

[Dumbledore: Indeed. Its eyes mean that it cannot be as harmless as the giant squid in the Black Lake.]

[Samuel Oak: Even so, I think that giant snake had little choice in the matter.]

Professor Oak stroked his chin. Perhaps because he had lived with Pokémon for so long, even knowing that the Basilisk was dangerous and had even killed someone, he could still view it calmly.

[Samuel Oak: Aside from being controlled twice by people with ulterior motives, that Basilisk had lived in Hogwarts' underground chamber for over a thousand years, surviving on rats and other creatures. Without that Tom, I believe it still would not have harmed anyone.

Leaving everything else aside, it was a legacy left behind by Slytherin. Although Slytherin ultimately parted ways with the other founders of Hogwarts, I do not believe such a teacher would harm his own students.]

[Dumbledore: A legacy of Slytherin's?]

[Flender: Come to think of it, aside from Gryffindor's relics, it seems that the relics of Hogwarts' other founders were all defiled by that Tom.

Headmaster Dumbledore, did Hogwarts not actively search for the founders' relics?]

Flender was puzzled by this. If he had been Hogwarts' leader, he would certainly have actively sought out the founders' relics.

Apart from their historical significance, those relics generally possessed genuine magical effects. The weight of time was usually reflected in such things.

[Dumbledore: I believe I can answer that question quite simply, Mr. Flender.

The four founders all had descendants besides Hogwarts, and their relics were often passed down to those descendants rather than to Hogwarts. This castle is already the finest relic we have received. To be precise, I prefer to call it a gift.

Salazar Slytherin's Locket, Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup are all like that.

However, Hogwarts still possesses many of their relics: the Sorting Hat, the Sword of Gryffindor, the library, Hufflepuff's recipes, and so on.

In fact, we also have Ravenclaw's Diadem. It is simply that this castle holds too many secrets, and we were unable to find it.

And Tom... he truly was a genius...

I failed to watch over him.]

As Dumbledore spoke, he recalled the past again. His light blue eyes dimmed. If he had paid a little more attention to Tom back then, would things have been different...

[Flender: Mr. Dumbledore, that had nothing to do with you. At the time, you were merely the head of Transfiguration. You were not even the headmaster. Tom had so many teachers—were you supposed to blame yourself for every one of them?

Besides, your only significant interactions with him were bringing him to Hogwarts and refusing to let him become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

A child who was called out for his mistakes yet felt not the slightest remorse, instead hiding and packaging himself even more deeply, then cursing that position after being denied a teaching post—this could only mean that his nature was twisted.]

Flender deeply disliked Tom. Or rather, a terrorist who attacked a school had little charm to begin with.

Vlad recalled that, in his previous life, there had been a period when reversal stories became mainstream. They constantly smeared righteous characters and whitewashed villains, while some fanfiction characters would stop at nothing for women.

By nature, Flender disliked that greatly. Leaving everything else aside, whitewashing someone like Voldemort... was there truly anything about a character like that that could be called clean?

[Zephyr: Why regret someone with a twisted nature? The best ending for such a person is imprisonment in chains, or simply death.]

Zephyr rolled his neck. Having just finished the Harry Potter story, he found people like Voldemort particularly disgusting.

He was scum who destroyed peace for his own selfish desires, trampled upon the changes people made through their own efforts, and shattered other people's families.

If someone like that ever appeared among his disciples, Zephyr would personally execute him on the spot.

Even Sakazuki, who had ordered his death, and Borsalino, who had truly killed him, did not inspire any particular thoughts in Zephyr.

Their positions had simply been different.

But Voldemort was different. He was pure scum.

[Samuel Oak: They are right, Mr. Dumbledore. Voldemort's birth had nothing to do with you or Hogwarts. In fact, you and Hogwarts were even able to foresee and delay his emergence.

If that Tom had appeared somewhere else, such as Durmstrang, where the Dark Arts were a major subject, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

With his powerful and evil talent, his skill at disguise, and such a terrible environment, he would have been more than twice as terrifying as he is now.]

Upon seeing that message, Dumbledore suddenly caught his breath. What if Tom had attended Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts?

Dumbledore scarcely dared to imagine it, because Grindelwald had attended Durmstrang.

A Grindelwald with crueler methods, a more twisted nature, and even more evil Dark Arts...

If that had been the case, Dumbledore would not have been confident of defeating him.

[Dumbledore: A Tom who attended Durmstrang? That truly would have been terrifying.

Now, I really must be grateful that Tom attended Hogwarts.]